Longing for the Temple Worship.

To the Chief Musician; set to a [a]Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1How lovely are Your dwelling places,

O LORD of hosts!

2My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the LORD;

My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

3The bird has found a house,

And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young--

Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,

My King and my God.

4Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence;

They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.

5Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You,

In [b]whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6Passing through the Valley of Weeping ([c]Baca), they make it a place of springs;

The early rain also covers it with blessings.

7They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];

Each of them appears before God in Zion.

8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.

9See our shield, O God,

And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].

10For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];

I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God

Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

11For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

The LORD bestows grace and favor and honor;

No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

12O LORD of hosts,

How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].